Welsh workers set for pay rise with new national minimum wage rates

Up to 160,000 workers in Wales will today (Tuesday 1 April) receive a pay rise as the new national living wage and national minimum wage rates take effect.

The minimum wage will rise by 6.7% to £12.21 an hour for those aged 21 and over, while the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will increase by £1.40 to £10 an hour.

It comes as part of a raft of measures linked to the Labour UK Government’s first budget.

The move has forced many of the UK’s largest employers to increase their rates of pay, with supermarket groups Tesco and Sainsbury’s among firms to announce they would hike their basic pay above the new minimum.

Growth

Ministers say the increase will help provide families with “better financial stability” as well as “improve living standards and kickstart growth”

It will also allow for further workers to potentially benefit from “positive spill-over impacts” including possible wage increases for those already earning more than the legal minimum.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We promised to make low pay a thing of the past. Now, as part of our Plan to Make Work Pay and the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, we are delivering that.

“Low pay is not only bad for workers, it prevents them from spending on our high streets and allowing local businesses to achieve their full potential.

“By ensuring that everyone gets a fair wage for the hours they work, we’re delivering the financial stability needed to kick-start economic growth and ensure our country is fit for the future.”

Living standards

Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders said: “Hard work deserves to be rewarded and this Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay is making that a reality.

“We’re raising the floor for workers from Cardiff to Colwyn Bay, putting more money into their pockets and delivering the increased living standards needed to kickstart economic growth across Wales.”

The full increases from 1 April 2025 are:

*National Living Wage (21+) has increased 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour
*National Minimum Wage (18-20) has a record increase of 16.2%, from £8.60 to £10 per hour
*National Minimum Wage (under 18) has increased 18%, to £7.55 per hour
*Apprentice Rate has the largest increase of 18%, from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour
*Accommodation Offset of £10.66 per day

The Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said: “Today thousands of the lowest paid workers in Wales will receive a pay rise worth £1,400 a year to help with household bills and improve living standards.

“Families across Wales will see this increase in their pay packets from today as the UK Government puts more money in the pockets of working people.”

The rise in wages will come into force at the same time as businesses swallow a raft of tax changes, many of which they had not expected prior to the autumn budget.

One of the most significant of these will be an increase in business rates for many high street firms due to a reduction in current discounts for thousands of retail, hospitality and leisure firms.

These businesses currently receive a 60% discount on their business rates – the property tax on commercial businesses – bills up to a cap of £110,000.

However, this discount will be reduced to 25% from April 1.